Review: Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey

♥ Summary: When her boyfriend, Danny, is killed in a car accident, Wren can’t imagine living without him. Wild with grief, she uses the untamed powers she’s inherited to bring him back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy she once loved.

Wren has spent four months keeping Danny hidden, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school and somehow, inexplicably, he can sense her secret. Wren finds herself drawn to Gabriel, who is so much more alive than the ghost of the boy she loved. But Wren can’t turn her back on Danny or the choice she made for him—and she realizes she must find a way to make things right, even if it means breaking her own heart.

♥ Favorite Line(s):

Don't think I had any.

♥ My thoughts:

Hi, the following statement is written by Ultra Blunt Cara:

Am I the only one who really disliked this book?

For the most part Goodreads is my friend, mi amigo, my compadre. I can almost always find a decently sized group of people who feel the same way about a book and I feel united in my bookish ways. That seems to not be the case with Cold Kiss.

Because everyone loves it.

And I don't.

Here's why:

Cold Kiss started out pretty well. The story's set up immediately, the situation's laid out, I settled in for the conflict and passion and adventure surely about to unfold. Everything was set up for a showdown, a meltdown, a heartbreak, a journey. And then NOTHING HAPPENED. Fo reals. There was no gusto I needed. No passion, no fire, not even any blood and guts stereotypical zombie stuff. The plot was so basic and lackluster. Boy + girl. Boy dies. Girl necromances him into his zombie self {by some feat that was never explained enough}. Enter New Boy. NB = lovey dovey with girl. Basic drama ensues. The end. The story had a spine but no heart.

I felt distanced from the characters and the story because I just couldn't believe either. Wren, the protagonist, was understandably depressed in the beginning, but by the end of Cold Kiss I couldn't take the moping anymore. It was constant and draining and not worth reading through for me. Her romance with Gabriel is a classic case of instalove and almost clinical and I couldn't connect with that either. I think my dislike for this all comes down to lost connections. This book was a series of them.

I did honestly appreciate Amy Garvey deciding to stick to a more traditional Haitian view of zombies rather than Hollywood's version. Zombies are a very real part of the culture along with voodoo and other awesome mystical things. I loved that Danny was a 'real' zombie rather than blood and "BRAAAIIIIINNSSSS!" It was a nice consideration and definitely took some research and I can respect that.

♥ Summing it up:

I just didn't like the book. I've read some glowing reviews of it though, so don't pass it up! This one's just not for everyone.